The Longmeadow High School girls volleyball team had plenty of reason to cheer Saturday night, after winning its fifth straight Western Mass. Division II title. (The Republican photo by David Molnar)

HOLYOKE - The Lancers took the Fifth.

The Longmeadow High School girls volleyball team let its play do all the talking Saturday night during a 3-0 win over Amherst Regional in the Western Massachusetts Division II title match.

The No. 1 Lancers won their fifth straight sectional title, posting game score wins of 25-20, 25-11 and 25-18.

Longmeadow (19-1) advances to the state semifinals Tuesday 7 p.m . against North sectional champion Melrose (22-1) at Nashoba Regional in Bolton.

"We have called it the Drive for Five,'' Longmeadow coach George Mulry said. "And now it's the Run for One. We want that state championship. It the past, I think we have just been happy to be there. Not now, not with this team.''

Defending champion Medfield, which ousted Longmeadow in the state semis, lost in the Central Mass. quarterfinals last week.

No. 3 Amherst, in search of its first title since 2006, finished its season at 17-5.

"This is as proud as I have felt about any team that I have had,'' Amherst coach Kacey Schmitt said. "We didn't have any fear in our eyes and not one kid on our team had experience in the final, where all six of Longmeadow's starters did.''

Longmeadow opened with a 25-20 win, then rallied after falling behind 8-2 in the second.

"I liked how we fought back in the first game,'' Mulry said. "We stuck to our gameplan, but weren't quite executing. In the second, down 8-2, because if there was a time to fall apart - that was it.''

"We came out strong in the first game, which was different than the other times we played them,'' Longmeadow junior Jen Hurwitz said of two regular season wins. "And then at the end, it was just unreal.''

During its current title run, Longmeadow has posted three sectional final sweeps and has lost only two of 17 games.

"These are all special,'' Mulry said. "They are all difficult in their own way and the goal with this particular group was for me not to have to coach anymore. The captains (Megan Houff, Mackenzie Ditomassi and Kaitlin Corbett) just took over.''

The tri-captains are among eight seniors on the team, but it was the play of Hurwitz that helped spark the Lancers.

"She played out of her mind tonight,'' Mulry said.

Hurwitz registered 18 kills in just three games, while Houff added 12 kills, four blocks and 13 digs. Ditomassi had 21 assists.

"I was in eighth grade when they won the first one . . . it was a huge deal, with a new coach,'' Houff said. "We weren't sure if it was a fluke, or something, and doing this (five straight) just shows how strong the program is and we keep getting stronger.''

The Hurricanes, playing in their first final since 2007, has won 12 championship titles since the tournament's inception in 1976.

"We came such a long way, and with only three seniors on a team with only four returnees (in September) . . . we should be proud,'' Schmitt said.